AFGHANISTAN: Afghan-American Journalist Freed After Detention In Kabul

RFE/RL: Afghan-American journalist Ali Latifi said on May 19 that he has been released from detention one day after being held in Kabul, calling it a “misunderstanding.”

---

AZERBAIJAN: Silk Way TV Channel expands broadcasting in Azerbaijan

KazInform: Silk Way International TV Channel of the Television and Radio Complex of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been featured into the cable packages of 14 cable television providers in Azerbaijan, Kazinform reports.

---

HONG KONG: Hong Kong responds with veiled threat while claiming it still respects press freedom

Asia Pacific Report: Just hours after Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and 116 publishers, editors-in-chief, and senior editors from around the world called for the release of Apple Daily founder and RSF Press Freedom Prize laureate Jimmy Lai (in Cantonese: Lai Chee-ying), the Hong Kong government responded with a veiled threat.

---

INDIA: BBC ordered to Delhi High Court over Modi documentary

BBC: The BBC has been ordered to the Delhi High Court over a defamation case about its documentary on Narendra Modi.

---

INDIA: Indian Reporter Arrested on Espionage Charges

VOA: India’s Central Bureau of Investigation arrested a freelance reporter on espionage charges this week, saying the journalist illegally collected sensitive information about the Indian army and shared the information with foreign governments.

---

JAPAN: Japan’s NHK apologizes over how suspected COVID vaccine deaths were reported

The Mainichi: Japanese public broadcaster NHK apologized on Twitter on May 16 for editing a news program to make it look like some people had died of COVID-19 when in fact the comments used in the show were by people claiming that their family members had died after receiving the coronavirus vaccine.

---

MALAYSIA: ‘Content, content, content’: The place of Malaysia’s oldest broadcaster in a digital world

Malaysia Now: Suhaimi Sulaiman was enjoying life after retirement when he received a phone call one day asking him to come back to work in the world of local television broadcasting. 

---

NEPAL: Radio Nepal and Nepal Television to be merged

RadioInfo: The Government of Nepal is planning to expand the integrated broadcasting service by merging Nepal Television and Radio Nepal, and establishing the Public Service Broadcaster within the next two fiscal years.

---

PAKISTAN: Where is the Pakistani TV anchor who has been missing for 12 days?

RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) fears for a missing TV anchor’s life and calls on Pakistan’s civilian government to ensure respect for the rule of law by immediately revealing where and in what conditions he is being held. RSF will hold the government responsible for any harm that may have come to him.

---

PHILIPPINES: Marcos appoints ex-ABS-CBN News Online editor as PIA chief

ABS-CBN: President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has appointed veteran journalist and former ABS-CBN News Online senior editor Jose Torres Jr. as the new director-general of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Malacañang said on Tuesday. 

---

SOUTH KOREA: Broadcasting regulator raided over suspicions involving re-licensing of radio station (10 May)

The Korea Herald: Prosecutors raided the state broadcasting regulator, the Korea Communications Commission, on Wednesday as part of a probe into allegations involving its 2019 re-licensing of a regional radio broadcasting firm.

---

TAIWAN: “World Public Television Exhibition” Taipei closed (Press release – Chinese)

PTS: The global public broadcasting media annual event “International Public Television Exhibition” (INPUT) hosted by Taiwan Public Television was successfully concluded last night in Taipei.

---

THAILAND: Thai PBS takes the championship The number of page views on the election website is 66, number 1 in Thailand. (Press release – Thai)

Thai PBS: Thai PBS thanks everyone for following the election results report. Views have surpassed 21 million page views. The election results report is fast, accurate, easy to use, and worth following.

AUSTRALIA: A new approach to experimenting on TikTok (Press release) 

ABC: The TikTok Incubator explores how the ABC can efficiently and strategically produce TikTok content. The project started with creating a master brand account (@abc) in May 2022. 

---

AUSTRALIA: ABC news chief regrets not defending Stan Grant earlier amid racist attacks

The Guardian: ABC news chief regrets not defending Stan Grant earlier amid racist attacks

Justin Stevens says he has apologised to presenter and urged media critics to ‘come after me’ rather than target journalists. 

---

AUSTRALIA: ABC staff rally in show of support for Stan Grant

ABC: ABC staff have rallied in a show of support for veteran Indigenous journalist Stan Grant, who last week announced he would step away from media commitments due to racial abuse.

---

AUSTRALIA: For years I’ve been a media target for racism and paid a heavy price. For now, I want no part of it – I’m stepping away (Blog) 

ABC: There’s a photo of me, one of the few school photos I have. I am seven years old, the darkest face in the class in 1970s white Australia.

---

AUSTRALIA: Stan Grant: Q+A presenter cites ‘poison’ of the media as he steps away from ABC show

The Guardian: Stan Grant, the presenter of the ABC’s Q+A, was given a standing ovation after citing the “poison” of the media as the reason he had decided to step away from the show.

---

NEW ZEALAND: RNZ’s head of news to step down at the end of July

Stuff: RNZ’s head of news, Richard Sutherland, is set to step down at the end of July.

---

NEW ZEALAND: Willie Jackson is not finished with TVNZ

The Spinoff: There are growing fears within the upper ranks of TVNZ that a stealth revolution is coming to the organisation – one which will lead to markedly different and less popular programming, risking mass loss of revenue and audience as a result.

---

TONGA: CIVIL SOCIETY AND UN RAISE CONCERNS AROUND LACK OF PRESS FREEDOM, RESTRICTIVE LAWS AT HUMAN RIGHTS REVIEW

Civicus: Tonga’s civic space is rated as ‘narrowed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. Ongoing concerns documented include the existence of criminal defamation laws, restrictions on the media and risks faced by the LGBTQI+ community.

AUSTRIA: End of GIS home visits with ORF contribution from everyone saves ORF 18 million euros (German)

Der Standard: 525,000 private households and 100,000 more companies than before will have to pay a “contribution” for the ORF from 2024 – according to the draft for the next ORF law, this will bring around 35 million euros more from the audience, namely 710 million. 

---

AUSTRIA: New public value report to present the value and benefits of the ORF (German) 

Der Standard: Not only in times of an upcoming ORF law amendment, the question arises as to how the ORF legitimizes its fee financing. 

---

AUSTRIA: Weißmann plans “second major streaming platform next to Joyn” with ORF contribution (German) 

Der Standard: The ORF is preparing to launch a new streaming platform in early 2024, when the ORF contribution will be available to everyone. 

---

BELARUS: Belarusian Blogger Raman Pratasevich, Sentenced To Eight Years In Prison, Says He Was Pardoned

Radio Free Europe: Raman Pratasevich, a former editor of an opposition Telegram channel who was handed a prison term earlier this month after the commercial flight he was on was forced to land in Minsk in 2021, told journalists on May 22 that he had received a pardon. 

---

BELARUS: Solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners

ECPMF: Today, marking the Day of the Political Prisoner in Belarus, the undersigned organisations reiterate our condemnation of the Lukashenko regime’s ruthless crackdown on civil society and independent media. 

---

BELGIUM: VRT and Streamz conclude a structural agreement on investments in top Flemish fiction (Press release – Dutch) 

VRT: The Flemish public broadcaster VRT and the Flemish streaming platform Streamz have reached an agreement on a structural collaboration.

---

CROATIA: European Commission: Croatian Model of Fact-Checking Relevant to All EU

Total Croatia News: The representative office of the European Commission in Croatia evaluates the Croatian model of establishing a system for checking the accuracy of the information in the public space and a network of fact-checkers relevant to every EU country, noting that it is the only such project financed from the Next Generation EU instrument.

---

CZECH REPUBLIC: The directors of Czech Television and Czech Radio met in Prague’s Municipal House (Press release – Czech) 

Czech TV: On Friday, May 19, on the occasion of 70 years of Czech Television and 100 years of Czech Radio, their current and former directors met. As part of the meeting in Prague’s Municipal House, dozens of heads of both institutions discussed the current situation of public service television and radio, their origins and future direction.

---

FINLAND: Finland divided over keeping public broadcasting tax

Euractiv: Finland’s population is divided on whether to keep the annual tax that pays for the country’s public broadcaster, the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, according to a recent study that comes as negotiations for a possible four-party government focus on ways to reduce public debt.

---

FRANCE: Revealed: French authorities’ failed manoeuvres in lead-up to journalist’s kidnapping in Mali (Paywall)

Le Monde: A joint investigation by news organisations including Le Monde reveals that the French military used journalist Olivier Dubois to try to locate a jihadist leader and failed to prevent his abduction. He was held as a hostage for almost two years.

---

GERMANY: Free speech but no fake news: Germany tasks Big Tech with battle against disinformation

National Observer: Last March, pro-Kremlin content creator Alina Lipp shared a video of a Russian-speaking woman claiming a group of Ukrainian refugees had attacked a 16-year-old boy in Euskirchen, a small town in western Germany.

---

GERMANY: Germany’s media and democracy (German)

Deutschlandradio: In many countries around the world, the social model of democracy is under pressure. One of its most important pillars is freedom of the press. But how do the media in this country deal with this responsibility? How can they protect democracy?

---

GREECE: As Elections Loom in Greece, Press Freedom on Back Burner

VOA: As Greece gears up for uncertain parliamentary elections Sunday, the country’s media landscape is as polarized as ever and press freedom remains in crisis, experts say.

---

IRELAND: Irish Times editor apologises for ‘breach of trust’

RTÉ: The apology comes following the publication of an opinion article online, labelling Irish people’s use of fake tan as “cultural appropriation”, which was later discovered to have been a hoax.

---

IRELAND: RTÉ PUBLISHES THOUSANDS OF EARLY RADIO RECORDINGS ONLINE  (Press release) 

RTÉ: RTÉ is delighted to announce the publication of some of its earliest radio recordings from the RTÉ Archives, which are now available online for the public to enjoy.  

---

IRELAND: RTÉ television programmes should reveal their carbon footprint, says Eamon Ryan (Paywall) 

Irish Times: RTÉ television programmes should reveal their carbon footprint, according to Minister for Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan. 

---

ITALY: Italian government accused of exerting ‘ruthless’ influence at state broadcaster

The Guardian: Source claims Giorgia Meloni’s coalition seeking to ‘cancel Italy’s antifascism footprints’ amid series of high-profile Rai departures

---

RUSSIA: Russia Denies Consular Access to American Journalist for Second Time

VOA: The U.S. State Department and media analysts have criticized Russia over its refusal to allow regular consular access to a U.S. journalist who has been detained in Moscow since his arrest in late March.

---

SERBIA: IPI calls for international support for investigative media KRIK

IPI: Leading investigative platform faces barrage of vexatious defamation lawsuits

---

SLOVAKIA: Slovak court acquits businessman in retrial over 2018 murder of journalist

AP: A court in Slovakia has acquitted for a second time a businessman accused of masterminding the 2018 slaying of an investigative journalist and his fiancée.

---

SLOVENIA: Golob: We have a situation in which the decisions made by the RTV program council are being upheld in the courts (Slovenian) 

RTV SLO: At the beginning of the regular May session, Prime Minister Robert Golob answered parliamentary questions about the state of RTV Slovenia, the management and disposal of ” state and parastate property “, the treatment of peer violence and the assessment of the damage caused to state property by Magna.

---

SLOVENIA: One year has passed since the start of the strike at RTV: what will its future be? (Slovenian) 

RTV SLO: One year has passed since the start of the strike at RTV Slovenija, with which the strikers draw attention to the conditions inside the house. On the occasion of the anniversary, the future of public RTV will also be discussed on the public forum.

---

SWITZERLAND: How we work: story criteria (Watch)

Swissinfo.ch: How are topics selected at SWI swissinfo.ch? And what are these “beats”? Our editor-in-chief Mark Livingston answers your questions.

---

UK: Alex Mahon speech to Media and Telecoms 2023 & Beyond Conference (Speech)

Channel 4: Since I spoke here a year ago, quite a lot has happened to Channel 4. It certainly hasn’t been dull

---

UK: BBC News puts transparency at its heart with BBC Verify (Press release) 

BBC: BBC News has unveiled BBC Verify – a new brand to address the growing threat of disinformation and build trust with audiences by transparently showing how BBC journalists know the information they are reporting.

---

UK: BBC Radio looks to evolve its in-house speech audio production model to take advantage of new creative opportunities (Press release) 

BBC: BBC Radio has today announced its proposal to evolve its in-house speech audio production model to strengthen the BBC’s overall offer to audiences as listening habits change and to increase creative opportunities for talent.

---

UK: Explaining the ‘how’ – the launch of BBC Verify (Blog) 

BBC: The exponential growth of manipulated and distorted video means that seeing is no longer believing. Consumers tell us they can no longer trust that the video in their news feeds is real. Which is why we at the BBC must urgently begin to show and share the work we do behind the scenes, to check and verify information and video content before it appears on our platforms.

---

UK: The Observer view on the high costs order against Carole Cadwalladr

The Guardian: The court of appeal partially allowed Arron Banks’ appeal. The effect on public interest journalism could be chilling

---

UK: Why a Guardian paywall would be good for journalism

Press Gazette: Editor of The Fence argues that a free Guardian stifles independent journalism.

---

UKRAINE: Journalism is the key to winning Ukraine’s war on corruption

WAN-IFRA: The fight for democracy and freedom in Ukraine is being fought on two fronts, one against the deadly weapons of Russian invaders and another against the enemy within – bribery and corruption, writes Aidan White of the Ethical Journalism Network.

---

REGIONAL: Urgent collective response needed to safeguard media freedom and protect democracy, concludes Ninth South East Europe Media Conference

OSCE: SKOPJE/VIENNA, May 17, 2023 – The ninth South East Europe Media Conference, “At a Crossroads: Safeguarding Media Freedom to Protect Democracy,” concluded today. The conference was organized by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) in collaboration with OSCE field operations from South East Europe.

ARGENTINA: A journalist was murdered in the province of Corrientes (Spanish)

IFJ: Griselda Blanco was found at her home in the town of Curuzú Cuatiá on Saturday afternoon. Although the authorities arrested the communicator’s partner almost immediately, relatives and relatives assure that the journalist had received threats related to her investigations and had recently linked a police officer with cases of sexual abuse. 

---

BARBADOS: Media decisions that impact our lives

Barbados Today: Established media houses that command the support of advertisers, a sizeable portion of the mass readership, viewership, or listenership, are often in a constant battle to maintain and grow those important markets for revenue.

---

BOLIVIA: Journalist suffers digital harassment after revealing corruption case (Spanish)

PR Noticias: After uncovering the corruption case, the communicator has been harassed through social networks. In this sense, the president of the National Association of Journalists of Bolivia (ANP), Zulema Alanes, requested in a letter addressed to the Vice Minister of Communication, Gabriela Alcón, to “investigate, prosecute and punish” the perpetrators of the harassment against the journalist. 

---

BRAZIL: EBC creates direct channel for dialogue between president and employees (Press release – Portuguese) 

EBC: The ordinance that establishes the dynamics of the Conversation with the President project, an unprecedented mechanism for consulting employees, was published this Wednesday (17). 

---

BRAZIL: Man invades radio studio and attacks live journalists (Portuguese)

O Liberal: A man invaded the studio of a radio station in Goiânia (GO) and attacked the journalists who were working at the time, during a live transmission.

---

CHILE: Chile will expand the FM band so that there are more radio stations nationwide (Spanish)

OhMyGeek: The Chilean government announced the expansion of the FM band , as part of the commitment to strengthen the country’s media. This will allow more radios throughout all of Chile to have space to operate in that band.

---

COLOMBIA: Culture and public media, priority or unfulfilled promise? (Spanish) 

Más Colombia: The role of culture and art in the national strike was gigantic. Their mobilization gave color, music and a new air to the peaceful demonstrations. Art showed its power. And all that accumulated discontent ended up capitalizing on Gustavo Petro.

---

COLOMBIA: Hollman Morris returns to public media: he was appointed RTVC television assistant manager (Spanish)

El País: One of the most faithful allies of President Gustavo Petro, but also one of the most controversial, has been appointed this Friday to a new position in the Government. 

---

CUBA: “In Cuba, no protest is legal,” interrogators told a journalist detained in Camagüey (Spanish) 

Martí: State Security arrested the independent journalist from Camagüey José Luis Tan Estrada on Thursday when he was accompanying the mother of the activist Ienelis Delgado “Mambisa Agramontina” to the jail where she is being held prisoner.

---

GUATEMALA: No press freedom, no democracy

Article19: ARTICLE 19 and 9 other non-governmental organisations call on Guatemalan authorities to respect and protect freedom of expression and freedom of the press – necessary conditions for guaranteeing democracy and the legitimacy of the electoral process.

---

GUYANA: Our enduring media freedom challenge (Editorial)

Stabroek News: Media freedom, that which rightly belongs to the people and which ought, correctly, to speak for the people, is still, as it has been for as long as we have been an independent nation, manipulated by successive political administrations.

---

MEXICO: Families of missing and murdered journalists in Mexico create a network to support their peers (Spanish)

VOA: Mexico is the most dangerous country to practice journalism and, precisely because of the large number of disappeared and murdered communication professionals in that country, various families created a network to support each other, due to the scourge they live in common: losing a loved one.

---

PERU: GAG LAW: ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS OF PERU REJECTS LEGISLATIVE PROJECT THAT ENDANGERS FREEDOM OF THE PRESS (Spanish) 

Pan America: The College of Journalists of Peru (CPP) issued a statement announcing its position of rejection of the so-called ‘Gag Law’, which seeks to raise the crime of defamation to four years in prison, through the press and media.

---

REGIONAL: Latin America strengthens multi-stakeholder strategies on safety of journalists and freedom of expression

UNESCO: On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) celebrated every 3 May, UNESCO’s Regional Office in Montevideo launched three new publications and co-organised six events with more than 50 prominent panelists, including representatives from government, international organisations, academia and civil society. 

IRAN: RSF alerts on renewed wave of heavy-handed arrests targeting journalists

RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed to see that the Islamic Republic of Iran has resumed its heavy-handed arrests of journalists after a brief respite. The authorities must release those detained and must stop terrorising the country’s journalists.

---

ISRAEL: Israeli Minister Threatens Legal Action Against Public Broadcaster’s Arabic Channel

Haaretz: Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi threatens legal actions against Channel Makan 33, criticizes its reportage and programs and quotes ‘numerous complaints’ of its employees on newly-adopted so called ‘anti-Zionist narrative’. 

---

PALESTINE: IFJ president expresses solidarity at PJS congress

IFJ: IFJ President, Dominique Pradalié, is in Ramallah, Palestine, on 23 May at the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) and pays tribute to Shireen Abu Akleh, a year after her killing.

---

SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi-backed group explores launch of English news channel to rival Al Jazeera (10 May)

The Financial Times: A Saudi Arabia state-backed media group is looking at launching an international English-language news channel that could rival Al Jazeera as the kingdom aims to expand its global media influence.

---

TURKEY: Pesha Magid on an existential election for press freedom in Turkey

CJR: Last week, a sex tape purporting to feature Muharrem İnce, a third-party candidate in Turkey’s presidential election, circulated online. 

---

TURKEY & GERMANY: Turkey protests detention of two journalists in Germany

Al Jazeera: German police briefly detained two journalists working for a Turkish newspaper and searched their homes in an operation that drew a sharp protest from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

---

REGIONAL: How news site Daraj reports on women’s rights and corruption across the Middle East

Reuters Institute: Co-founder Diana Moukalled speaks about the outlet’s origins, its impact, its funding, its projects and the challenges that lay ahead.

---

REGIONAL: Jailed, exiled and harassed, journalists defy authoritarian leaders in Central America

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: El Faro is one of El Salvador’s most prominent news outlets and a reference for independent journalism across Central America. So when its founders announced in April that it had found a new home outside of the country, many voices saw it as a bad omen for press freedom in a region where journalism has been under pressure for too long.

CANADA: CBC English TV has lost its relevance. It’s time to talk about that (Opinion) 

The Globe and Mail: For many progressives, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is an article of faith, a touchstone of modern Canada. For many conservatives, the CBC is an object of scorn, an elitist bastion that should be defunded.

---

US: A CNN star speaks out about Trump town hall and other media news and links

Poynter: A major CNN personality has spoken publicly about the network hosting former President Donald Trump in a town hall last week.

---

US: Advice for public radio stations: why we can’t keep treating digital members like radio listeners (Paywall) 

Current: What does “digital membership” mean, and how does it differ from how public radio has traditionally thought about membership?

---

US: CPB Names Faisal Khan Executive Director, Next Generation Warning System (Press release) 

CPB: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has named Faisal Khan as Executive Director of the Next Generation Warning System, effective immediately.  

---

US: Fake Pentagon explosion photo goes viral: How to spot an AI image

Al Jazeera: A picture claiming to show an explosion near the Pentagon raises concerns about AI’s ability to produce misinformation.

---

US: Federal inquiry details abuses of power by Trump’s CEO over Voice of America 

NPR: On the day after his confirmation as chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media in June 2020, Michael Pack met with a career employee to discuss which senior leaders at the agency and the Voice of America should be forced out due to their perceived political beliefs.

---

US: PBS Announces First Cohort of Participants Selected for its Diverse Voices Initiatives (Press release) 

PBS: Today, participants in two key programs that are part of a larger Diverse Voices Initiative were announced at the 2023 PBS Annual Meeting. 

Advice for photographing vulnerable communities ethically and compassionately

IJNet: With more information at our fingertips than ever before due to the internet and social media, honest and accurate representation through images must be a priority. With this in mind, photojournalists should take precautions to avoid publishing images that might harm or exploit vulnerable communities.

---

Can we still handle the truth? Journalism, ‘alternative facts’ and the rise of AI

The Guardian: The credo of Watergate is still relevant: find the best obtainable version of the truth. But doing so is only getting more complicated

---

How a small news site built an innovative data project to visualise the impact of climate change on Uruguay’s capital

Reuters Institute: ‘La ciudad sumergida’ by Amenaza Roboto shows the likely impact of sea level rises in Montevideo. Miguel Dobrich explains the initiative.

---

How one journalist uses Instagram to pull back the curtain on her reporting process

Nieman Lab: As a D.C. crime and criminal justice beat reporter for The Washington Post, Emily Davies has a few strategies for understanding how her sources see the world. 

---

Journalism’s Essential Value

CJR: As long as independent journalism has existed, it has angered people who want stories told their way or not at all. But I can pinpoint the moment when I realized how contested the very idea of journalistic independence had become.

---

News publishers across the globe are presenting Big Tech with a bill

Poynter: Around the world, news publishers are crunching numbers to figure out how much Google and Meta owe them for publishing news online.

---

Obinwa Nnaji, a Great Life in Journalism and Beyond

This Day Live: Chido Nwangwu writes about the life and times of a pan Africanist and journalism icon, Obinwa Nnaji, who will be interred today in Enugu.

---

Sustaining Journalism, Sustaining Democracy

TPP: Dr. Courtney C. Radsch is a journalist, author and advocate working at the nexus of technology, media and policy, and is a fellow at the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law & Policy and the Center for Media Data and Society (CEU). Michael Karanicolas is the Executive Director of the UCLA Institute for Technology Law & Policy, and an affiliated fellow with the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.

---

The New York Times launches “enhanced bylines,” with more information about how journalists did the reporting

Nieman Lab: Starting Thursday, New York Times stories online will no longer include a traditional dateline that tells where a story was reported from. Instead, certain stories will have “enhanced bylines” that tells readers more about how journalists did the reporting.

---

The UN says freedom of expression is being threatened across the globe

Euronews: The UN says freedom of expression is under threat around the world with journalists being murdered and facing threats, intimidation and violence for trying to report the truth.

---

The view from the top

CJR: In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential campaign, the bosses are speaking out. In interviews and op-eds, senior figures in the world of American journalism are pushing back against critics of traditional “objectivity,” hoping to reset the tone as newsrooms enter a political season that will likely be more tainted by disinformation and more dangerous for reporters than any in recent memory.